No Take-Out, Quick and Easy Pad Thai

My absolute favorite take-out dinner is Pad Thai. I love it. When I lived in Miami it was easy to find good Pad Thai but moving to a smaller town proved a little difficult. After a year, my old addiction was in serious need of a fix. How hard could it be to make? Honestly, it’s pretty easy.

You can find all of the necessary ingredients in your local grocery store, however, this small town has an Asian market and you better believe I’m going to shop there. Now, I don’t make my own sauce…yet…so forgive the fact that I use a store-bought Pad Thai sauce. One of these days I’ll get around to actually making the sauce from scratch but I’ve found one in the store that I really like, so that’s what I use. The brand is Maesri, and I have no idea what’s in it as the label is all in Thai, but blind faith tastes pretty good.

I have to admit, it took me a few tries to figure out the timing of when to add things. I like my sprouts and carrots a little crunchy, but not too crunchy, and overcooking the noodles was actually easier than I thought it would be, however, the more you work with the food, the better you get.

I usually make Pad Thai when I don’t have a lot of time to make dinner because it’s quick and easy, and there are usually leftovers for lunch the next day.

No takeout, quick and easy Pad Thai

Pad Thai

INGREDIENTS

1/2 lb Pad Thai Rice Noodles

1 lb Beef, Chicken, Shrimp, Tofu, or whatever protein you prefer

1 cup julienned Carrots

1 package Sprouts

Chopped Green Onion

4 tbs Black Soy Sauce

6 oz Maesri (or any brand) Pad Thai Sauce

2 tbs Extra Light Olive Oil

2 Eggs

Optional: crushed peanuts and lime wedge

PREPARATION

Soak the rice noodles in hot water for about 15 minutes.

In a wok or large saucepan, brown your protein over medium high heat and season with half of the black soy sauce.

Once all of the water has cooked off, add the noodles with a little bit of the water. Mix in half the Pad Thai sauce and remaining black soy sauce. Add carrots and sprouts, mix together with the remaining sauce.

Move all of the food to one side of the wok or pan and fry the eggs, then mix them into the noodles. Finish with the chopped green onion and olive oil.

Plate and serve with crushed peanuts (if you’re not allergic) and a lime wedge. Enjoy!